(NEW YORK) — Former NBA players Malik Beasley and Edward Davis, current sports agent Paolo Zamorano and three others were indicted Monday for their alleged roles in a sports gambling scheme in which authorities said Beasley was bribed to manipulate his performance in NBA games.
With their inside knowledge, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn said Beasley’s co-defendants placed sports bets worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
In a Jan. 26, 2024 game between the Bucks and Cavaliers, Beasley allegedly told his then-Milwaukee teammate Davis he intended to underperform his usual rebounding prowess.
In exchange, Beasley expected a bribe payment and Davis disseminated the information to co-defendants so they could place fraudulent wagers, the indictment said.
Many of the fraudulent wagers were successful, authorities said.
The following month, when the Bucks were playing the Hornets, Beasley allegedly told Davis he would underperform his usual scoring and overperform his rebounding.
Davis allegedly passed the information to co-defendants and they placed successful fraudulent wagers, the indictment said.
In a third example from the indictment, Beasley allegedly told Davis he would overperform his rebounding in a March 2024 game against the Clippers.
“An indictment is nothing but a probable cause one sided charging document,” Beasley’s attorney, Steve Haney said in a statement. “It is not evidence and Malik maintains his presumption of innocence throughout this two year investigation. We ask that people reserve judgment until all the facts are known.”
In total, the defendants and their co-conspirators placed fraudulent wagers totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars conditioned on Beasley’s fixed performance in the influenced games at issue via multiple betting operators, the indictment said.
“As alleged, the defendants turned professional basketball into a criminal betting operation, bribing then-NBA player Malik Beasley to fix his performance in multiple games in order to place fraudulent wagers, enrich themselves and cheat legitimate sportsbooks,” said United States Attorney Joseph Nocella.
“Bribery and insider betting schemes like this one involving former NBA players and a current NBA player agent who exploited inside NBA information for profit erode the integrity of American sports and victimize the sports-watching public.”
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